---

The Northland Eagles travelled to Bigfork on Tuesday, January 6 to take on the Huskies. The opening minutes had the Eagles jump out to an 8-4 lead. The next eight minutes belonged to the home team as they led 17-13 with just under seven minutes to go before halftime. The Eagles defense stiffened, but the offense just could not get some shots to fall and trailed at the half 25-23.

The eagles came out quickly to start the second half and retook the lead 29-27, but once again the offense stalled and the Huskies were able to retake the lead and build it to 44-36 with 7:50 remaining in the game. The Eagles would not quit and cut the lead to 54-51 with 3:03 to go.

With a chance to cut the lead to one or tie with a 3-pointer, a turnover, a foul sending the Huskies to the line and things unraveled for the Eagles. Unable to get any shots to drop, the Eagles were forced to foul and the Huskies hit their free throws to make the final score look a lot worse than the actual game was at 67-54. The game became a little chippy near the end and all coaches, players and fans are looking forward to the February 5 game when the teams play again in Remer.

Overall the team played fairly well, "We put together some good effort tonight, shots just didn't fall throughout the game." Coach Carlson commented.

Eagles- 23 31 54

Bigfork- 25 42 67

Scoring- Woods-8, Greene-6, Mayers-5, Swankier-5, Wicks-11, Kovall-19

Friday, January 9 had the Eagles making the long trek to Littlefork, to take on the Vikings. Coming off the bitter defeat against Bigfork the boys were looking to take it out on the Vikings.

The game started slowly as both teams looked for clean, open shots. The hosts then started to hit their shots, mainly 3-pointers, and eased out to leads of 18-9 at the 10:00 mark, and their biggest lead of 27-14 with just under seven minutes to go in the half. The Eagles would go on a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to close to with 31-28 with 1:07 remaining in half before it ended with the Eagles down 33-29.

The second half opened with Eagles continuing their hot shooting and the defense playing tough. The eagles built their largest lead 44-41 with 13:00 left in the game. Back came the Vikings, as they would retake the lead 50-48 with nine minutes left. Neither team could score over the next couple of minutes, before the Vikings once again were able to forge ahead and lead 61-53 with 3:44 left in the game.

But on this night the Eagles had no quit, hustled, caused some key turnovers, hit the offensive glass and controlled the Vikings on the defensive end over the next three minutes to lead 66-63 with 26 seconds left in the game. What turned out to be the best 26 seconds of defense the team has played all year, the Eagles would not allow any Viking player a clear shot of the basket. A desperate attempt that went out of bounds with less than one second remaining sealed the victory for the Eagles.

"We needed that win." Carlson after the game commented. "That was a team effort, proud of the kids." The boys looked to each other, the open man, to score and helped each other more defensively in this game. This may be the game that turns some of those hard fought losses into wins down the stretch.

Eagles- 29 37 66

Littlefork- 33 30 63

Scoring- Woods-22, Greene-8, Smith-4, Mayers-3, Wicks-12, Kovall-16

The Eagles travelled to Menagha on Monday January 12 to take on the Braves. The next home game for the Eagles is Friday, January 16 against Pine River, and then travel to Onamia for a Girls/Boys double header on Saturday January 17.



[[In-content Ad]]

---